The Viper class was a group of two torpedo boat destroyers (or "TBDs") built for the British Royal Navy in 1899.

Viper was ordered and built for the Royal Navy in 1899 by Hawthorn Leslie and Company at Hebburn on the River Tyne.

Viper and another turbine-powered ship, the Vickers special-type Cobra were both lost to accidents in 1901: Viper foundered on rocks in fog during naval manoeuvres near Alderney on 3 August 1901, while Cobra broke her back in a storm in the North Sea on 18 September 1901.

Since then the Royal Navy has not used snake names for destroyers; Python was renamed Velox soon after.

The ships were considered successes when acquired, achieving speeds of up to 36 knots on trials.